The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps clashed with two terrorist groups in northwest Iran near the border with Iraq, killing a number of terrorists.
IRGC Ground Force Commander Lieutenant General Mohammad Pakpour said Wednesday the two groups were trying to infiltrate into Iran through the Oshnavieh border area to carry out sabotage and terror attacks. The armed clashes lasted several hours and some of the terrorists were killed, Press TV quoted him as saying. He did not specify the affiliation of the attackers, but such attacks in the northwest are normally carried out by the PJAK, an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militant group, which is active in Iraq and Turkey. Last week, Iranian armed forces killed ten terrorists in two separate operations in the northwest and the southeast. The operations took place in West Azarbaijan Province and the Khash region in Sistan and Baluchestan Province.
Terrorist attacks are rare in Iran, but al Qaeda-linked and other terror outfits stage hit-and-run assaults at irregular intervals in the border areas.
